Postgame Quotes - January 6, 2013

Pistons vs Bobcats

(On game): “We got the good start in terms of 8-0, but that’s first half. That’s exactly what we talked about going into the game; getting back. We had 17 fast breaks in the first half, guarding the ball, in the first quarter alone, they had eight strong-hand drives. So, you shoot 62% and you’re up one at half time. Second half for both teams, the game slowed down. There was some more grind out there, but you just look at a lot of the hustler areas that we had been winning, we didn’t win it tonight. So, they’re plus-10 from the free throw line. You look at the second-chance points, fast break points, 25-9. We start the third quarter, three offensive fouls to start the quarter. And then the game, to me, changed a little bit in that second quarter. We’re up 13, then we lose focus. And then you know how quickly they get right back into it. And then in the second half, those turnovers turn into easy baskets. That unit with Andre (Drummond) starts switching pick-and-rolls. We got a little too dribble-oriented, the ball didn’t move as much. And then we had some open looks that we weren’t able to convert. And at the end of the day, we get down to the stretch, we do get the stop, can’t come up with the rebound, and a possession game where we unfortunately ran out of points, sometimes like you said, because of turnovers, but you look at the number of easy baskets they get. That impacts your spirit, you know, you look at (Bismack) Biyombo, how many boards he had. You look at it as a group, so it all starts either our inability to get back, our inability to guard the ball, or our inability with the pick-and-roll to be up at the level or be into the ball. So, that penetration really was the source of a lot of the problems. We shoot 50% for the game, but those turnovers, you lose those possessions and give the second-chance opportunities for them, and you know it changes the complexion, obviously, of the game.”

(On numerous turnovers affecting the flow of the game): "It definitely did, but we had our chances to win the game. We had a couple shots up in the air and some turnovers. We're going to go back to the drawing board and take the positives out. I thought defensively it went as good as it did in the past."

(On Charlotte battling back): "They played tough tonight and they competed from start to finish. They played tough."

(On needing to win close games): "We definitely have to put a game like this away. We had them on the ropes at home, and we need to get as many wins as possible. We have to take the positives and build from it."

(On team): "They are a hot team coming in. Defensively, 20 points in the third and then 14 in the fourth, that is the kind of effort it takes to win here and I think everybody contributed tonight."

(On Kemba Walker): "He was spectacular in overtime as well so it carried through. We were able to rest him a little bit and I think that helped him because we have been playing him big minutes. He has a huge heart, he knows how to close games, and he is special that way."

(On Tyrus Thomas): "Just by misfortune in that (Hakim) Warrick was not feeling well, he had the flu. (Tyrus Thomas) starts and he takes full advantage of it, but he has been practicing well and doing a lot of individual work at night and it paid off."

(On win): "For us, the Bulls and the Pistons to be able to win those games on the road there is plenty to sell. It takes that heat off us on that losing streak. We can push away with that and get on with life in the development of our organization."

(On returning to the Palace): "Just another game. Another win for us. Obviously we've been kind of struggling in the win category this year. I think each game, each practice, we give ourselves an opportunity to get better as a team and tonight was another step in the right direction."

(On defensive effort): "We came out and did a poor job defensively in the first half, but you got to give them a lot of credit, they run their stuff to a T, and they were giving us a lot of trouble the way they were executing. The good thing is we were able to score some points on the other end. When we came in at halftime, we knew that we had to lock down on the defensive end, and we knew that we would have a chance to win if we did that."

(On ending Piston's home streak): "We came in and caught them while they are playing really good basketball. I think they tried to come out and hit us in the mouth in the first half, but we stood on our feet and it's a good win for us."